Being fans of Spanish wines, we were enthralled with the
idea of putting together a tasting of some of the top, deluxe bottlings of
Spain.

As we prefer to be "blind" to vintage charts, we had not taken much
notice of the fact that the 2002 vintage in Rioja, for example, is regarded as
being merely "Good" by the Rioja wine bureau. "Good"
when you're spending $100 to $300 on a bottle of wine should be a given.
We're, frankly, looking more for "Great."

We assembled wines which are in current retail circulation, so the tasting
featured various vintages.

Of course, when you're being asked for the remarkably high prices for these
wines, it's very difficult for the wines to have a customer say "Why yes,
I'll gladly pay you $200 for a bottle of this..."

Yet I did not hear the group complaining about the lackluster quality of the
wines. After the tasting, I asked my colleague Bob Gorman if he felt the
wines were from an "off" vintage.
Without hesitating for a second, Bob replied, "Absolutely not!"
Meanwhile, American wine guru Robert Parker gives the 2002 vintage in Rioja a
score of "76" out of 100 and he sounds a note of caution, writing the
vintage may be "too old" at this stage.

In assembling the wines, I could not decide which one to leave out of the
line-up, so we actually asked tasting participants to put 9 glasses on the
table.

Two wines were highly ranked, with the winner being fairly universally placed in
the "first division" on all but one scorecard.

8th Place: LA CUEVA del CONTADOR 2002 Rioja Vinos de Benjamin RomeoMost of the commentary centered on this wine's lack of richness and
apparent "sharp" aspect. One taster mentioned this as being
"thin and acidic," while another found "sour cherry notes"
to this wine. Another person described it as "medicinal," while
someone else found notes reminiscent of "pomegranate juice." A
couple of more technically-minded tasters found this "Sharp and borderline
volatile," while the other noted its cloudy appearance and sharp character
were probably indicative of a stability problem.
I marked this down for smelling like a much older wine. It's got a note of
cedar and some red fruits. It's rather simple and ordinary on the palate,
so the fact that this is a "second" wine makes some sense. Too
bad they ask more money for this than many "first" wines. I
suspect they'd have done better to simply declassify this or sell it under some
other label.

7th
Place: ALTOS DE LANZAGA 2001 Rioja Compaia de Vinos Telmo
RodriguezOne critic found this to be "Grapey and simple. I'd liken it
to a good ten-buck Aussie Shiraz." Someone else found it to be
"Sharp and simple." Another critic described this as "Young
and fruity. It's pleasant, but I can't tell you what kind of wine this
is." But someone else found it to be "Spot on Tempranillo in a
sea of Parkerized wines. This is classic Rioja!" One taster
questioned if this was truly dry or if it had a touch of sweetness.
I was very fond of this to start. It shows woody, cedary notes on the nose
with good fruit and some berry tones. There's ample sweet oak present here
which I like in Spanish reds. The same features show up on the palate,
though the wine reminded me a bit of some warm Zinfandels in the mouth.
There's a candied orange note here. I gave it a one-and-a-half star rating
on my three star scale, with no stars being standard or ordinary.

6th Place: ARTADI 2002 Rioja "Pagos Viejos"One person characterized this as "having a Porty nose and it's low
intensity, sour and hollow. It has nothing in the middle."
Someone else said "It's has no nose and no palate, just a wall of
tannin." Another person defended this wine, saying "I liked
it. It's closed initially, but as it grew it displayed notes of leather,
oak and ripe cherries and black fruits. It finished with a bitter
chocolate character." One tasting participant found it
"bitter," while someone else encountered "plummy, jammy notes
with a bitter, chalky texture on the palate. Over-ripe and
tannic." Someone else found "Blueberry and cherry fruit notes
and a hot finish."
I found it ripe and bordering on jammy, but only bordering on this aspect.
There's a floral note on the nose with a hint of wild spice. It's big and
robust on the palate, while being fairly tannic. I knocked it down for
seemingly lacking substance on the mid-palate and finish. It's simply a
big, coarse, ripe red wine.

5th
Place: FINCA ALLENDE 2001 Rioja "Calvario"One taster described this as "A nice wine and it's simple. A
good, under-$15 bottle. It doesn't have a whole lot on the
finish." Someone else found "Tar and cassis notes on the nose
and it's rich and ripe. But mid-palate to the end it was lost."
Disagreeing was a taster who found this to have a "strong
finish." Someone else pegged it as "Excellent, full and
well-balanced." Another taster found it to be "Extracted, closed
on the nose and sharp, hollow and quite astringent on the palate." A
final taster encountered a "Bitter chocolate finish and sweet
aftertaste."
I detected ripe plummy fruit on the nose and some berry fruit. There's a
light oak element showing here, too. The wine is fairly full-bodied and
offers dark plum fruit flavors and a bitter texture, sort of pear-skin
coarseness. I gave it a one star rating.

4th Place: CONTADOR 2002 Rioja"This developed beautifully in the glass." said one
critic. Another tabbed it as "The most varietally-correct wine and it
has good structure, fine acidity and good fruit." A third
person asked if this wine doesn't have "Brettanomyces?" Someone
did mention finding a "leathery note" and another critic found
"Sweaty, horsy notes with plummy fruit and bitter tannins. It tastes
better than it smells." A final taster characterized this as
"Harmonious, with minty, cedary notes and oaky tones. It's got a
chew, somewhat sweet finish."
I found dark fruit aromas and some warm spice tones to this wine. It
offers a touch of clove and nutmeg on the nose. The same spice elements
come though on the palate, with a big of heat, as well. One star.
The price is ridiculous.

3rd Place: MUGA 2000 Rioja "Aro"This wine centers on oak. One taster described tasting this as
"being hit over the head with a stave." Another person found
"coconut notes as it has an almost artificial flavor." One panel
member found it "Super ripe with crystallized berry notes. It's a
very showy wine." Another taster agreed, adding "There's plenty
of substance to this wine." One person found "Minty notes and
some bing cherry and raspberry fruit. It's a bit tannic, but I like
it." One vintner claimed it was left "too long in the fermenter
and too long in barrel."
I liked this quite a bit as it was, for me, a fine example of
"Spanish" wine. There's a lot of wood, certainly. It's
oaky, spicy and has the woodsy tones of top Rioja and Ribera del Duero
wines. The flavors are oaky, too. Perfect for a grilled steak or
lamb. Two stars+.

2nd Place: TERMANTHIA 2002 Toro"Yummy coffee, toffee notes with black cherry fruit, toasty oak and
chocolate with a bitter lime character." were the adjectives employed by
one taster. Another taster found notes of "bubble gum. It's rich and
really strong. Long, dusty tannic finish." Someone else felt it
was "too sour." Another critic felt this was "short and
unfocused. It's high-toned and has some shrill notes. Plus it's
hot." Others found this "harsh" and "showing lots of
oak." A final voice said "This shows notes of caramel and it's a
smooth wine. Big, mouth-coating on the palate. Ripe fruit, plums and
black cherries..."
I found fragrances of blueberry pie and blackberries. It's almost
Port-like or liqueur-like in its intensity, though they managed to avoid the
wine being jammy. The intensity is amazing...definitely a wine "on
steroids." It's as amazing on the palate as on the nose...dark fruit
flavors...intense. I gave it two-and-a-half stars.

1st Place: PAGOS de los CAPELLANES 1999 Ribera del Duero"This sure is a killer." said one taster. Another said
"From the first sip to the last, this is great!" Someone else
pegged this as having "Great fruit...very elegant, too." Another
critic encountered "Black, ripe olives, cinnamon spice and cola
notes. Cocoa powder and vanilla bean. It's a tad on the hot side, but
still delicious." Other voices heard mentioned "a long
finish" and "nice, though too acidic."
I enjoyed the lovely vanilla bean and mocha fragrances. Plenty of oak
here, but nice fruit, too. It's tannic, certainly, but seems to have the
balance to allow it to cellar well. I gave it one-and-a-half stars.

Please note: The wines tasted are not always wines
we have (or have had) in the shop.
Many bottles are merely for our enological exploration.
Price quoted are current at the time of the tasting, but may be different
when you're reading this.

WE HAVE NOT ORGANIZED A TASTING IN A WHILE...
BUT WE DO POST THE RESULTS OF A PRIVATE TASTING GROUP THAT'S BEEN MEETING FOR
MORE THAN 40 YEARS!

We are working on
organizing some blind-tastings at the shop.
Send us a note to indicate your interest in participating.
These would be on Wednesday evenings and you'd need to bring 8 wine glasses.